Systems and methods of measuring drug efficacy and side effects using non-invasive or husbandry-only testing are described. Steps include testing a cohort with a proposed husbandry-only protocol against an existing gold-standard treatment, and then validating the use of a created surrogate, non-invasive metric in place of an invasive metric. Then, the validated non-invasive surrogate metric and the husbandry-only protocols are used with an animal treatment cohort to study a new proposed treatment. A control cohort is also used, subject to the same husbandry-only testing and the surrogate metric. A statistical difference in outcomes, using one or more surrogate metrics, between the treatment cohort and the control cohort is the drug efficacy, for a drug used to treat the treatment cohort.

A method and system for the continuous monitoring of animal physiology in laboratory animal cages through the use of miniaturized sensors located throughout the cage and in various fashions including the ability to identify each rodent's digital sensory signature through data fusion and artificial intelligence.

A respiration rate detector is provided for determining a rate of respiration of an experimental animal. The respiration rate detector includes one or more optical detectors to observe an experimental animal and generate a video signal relating to the experimental animal. A controller is provided to process the video signal to determine an optical flow of the video signal and generate an optical-flow signal, and analyze the optical-flow signal to determine the respiration rate of the experimental animal based on a detected repetitive movement of the experimental animal. The respiration rate is thereby detected without requiring physical contact with the experimental animal.

Methods and apparatuses are provided for a virtual burrow assay for a diversity of neurological and psychiatric disorders. For example, a virtual burrow array device including a virtual, burrow, a linear actuator and one or more sensors is provided.

A device for detecting and recording animal behavior is provided. The device includes at least one corral that defines contained field, the base surface of the at least one corral being sensitive to the animal's footprint. The device also includes an image capturing device that cooperates with the base surface to capture both a profile of the animal's full footprint and a profile of the animal's toe print when the animal is standing on its toes. In some embodiments, the device is capable of providing a stimulus to the animal and observing the resulting behavior of the animal via the image capturing device.

According to various embodiments, systems and methods for determining carbon dioxide detection in arthropods. An embodiment may include determining at least one resonant frequency of an arthropod sensory organ and an absorption spectrum of at least one odorant. A frequency filter may be applied to the absorption spectrum to eliminate frequencies below a given intensity value. Of the frequencies remaining from the absorption spectrum, those frequencies corresponding to relative peaks in absorption intensity may be selected. An olfactory chord including a group of the selected frequencies corresponding to the relative peaks in absorption intensity with at least one specific frequency that matches the at least one resonant frequency of the arthropod sensory organ. Additionally, at least one radiation source may be configured to emit electromagnetic radiation corresponding to the olfactory chord.

The field of this invention is classifying animal behaviors. In particular the fields of this invention include using animals in vivariums, such as rodents, particularly mice. In a vivarium cage, animals create ultrasonic vocalizations. In addition, their phenotype changes over time. The vocalizations, a current phenotype, and the cage environments are inputs to a multi-dimensional classifier using clustering algorithms to find multi-dimensional close relationships. Such close relationships may be identified as particular behavior.

The field of this invention is classifying animal behaviors. In particular the fields of this invention include using animals in vivariums, such as rodents, particularly mice. In a vivarium cage, mice generate ultrasonic vocalizations and video behaviors. Their phenotype may also change. Starting with known cognitions or emotions, then comparing the vocalizations, changes to phenotype and video behaviors identification, classification and correlations of cognition or emotion may be generated. These new identifications, classifications and correlations are then used to update the starting set of cognition and emotion of the study animals, in a continuous feedback.

Proposed are a functional improvement evaluation apparatus and a nerve cell culture apparatus of model animals capable of performing feedback control, even to mammalian model animals, based on biosignals in the same manner has humans based on a relatively simple configuration. The present invention comprises a biosignal detection unit which is mounted on a central side above an intended in vivo site of a mammalian model animal and/or a peripheral side below an intended in vivo site of a mammalian model animal, and detects a biosignal resulting from a biological activity of the model animal, a control unit which causes a driving source to generate power according to an intent of the model animal based on the biosignal detected by the biosignal detection unit, and a motion transmission mechanism which is connected to a holding part for holding a foot of each leg of the model animal, and transmits the power of the driving source to the holding part so that the holding part swings at a same or approximate trajectory as a natural walking motion pattern of the model animal, and the control unit controls the power of the driving source based on a swing state of the holding part connected to the motion transmission mechanism.

A method and system for the continuous monitoring of animal physiology in laboratory animal cages through the use of miniaturized sensors located throughout the cage and in various fashions including the ability to identify each rodent's digital sensory signature through data fusion and artificial intelligence.